Snorkeling Guidelines

Snorkeling Guidelines from Coral Reef Alliance:

The following information about snorkeling guidelines is from the Coral Reef Alliance ( http://www.coral.org ).

Coral reefs are among the world’s most spectacular habitats and snorkeling is an excellent way to explore them. As coral reefs face an increasingly uncertain future, snorkelers and other coral reef visitors can play an important role in helping to protect these fragile habitats. Follow these simple guidelines to help protect the coral reefs you visit.

BEFORE SETTING OUT TO EXPLORE THE REEFS

For your vacation, choose an environment-friendly resort or hotel; one that recycles and treats sewage and solid waste in responsible ways.

Look for and support coral parks and other marine conservation areas.

Get the best possible instruction you can.

Practice snorkeling skills away from the reef.

Make sure your equipment fits properly before you snorkel near corals—it can be very difficult to adjust in the water.

If you feel uncertain, wear a snorkel vest.

Learn all you can about coral reefs—they are fascinating and fragile environments.

IN THE WATER

Never touch corals; even slight contact can harm them. Some corals can sting or cut you.

Select points of entry and exit to avoid walking on corals.

Maintain a comfortable distance from the reef, so that you’re certain you can avoid contact.

Know where your fins are at all times and don’t kick up sand.

Stay horizontal in the water while you’re near or above the reef.

Learn to swim without using yours arms.

Move slowly and deliberately in the water—relax and take your time.

Remember, look but don’t touch.

Snorkeling pros know the real way to enjoy the beauty of the reef is to slow down, relax and watch as reef creatures go about their daily lives undisturbed.

AS A RESPONSIBLE SNORKELER

Take nothing living or dead out of the water except recent garbage.

Never chase or try to ride marine life.

Never touch, handle or feed marine life except under expert guidance and following locally-established guidelines.

Avoid using gloves in coral environments.

ON BOATS

Choose operations whose boats make use of moorings when available—anchors destroy fragile corals.

Make sure garbage is well-stowed, especially light plastic items.

Remove everything that was brought on board and dispose of trash responsibly.

SHORESIDE

Support Coral Parks and other conservation projects.

Visit established Coral Parks and pay applicable user fees that support marine conservation.

Encourage and support the use of boat moorings.

Participate in local initiatives to monitor the marine environment.

Participate in cleanups.

Make a donation or volunteer your skills to support a Coral Park. For example, you can participate in a reef survey, conduct outreach, or help educate others about reef conservation.

Donate used equipment such as cameras, dive gear or reef ID books.

Take your garbage home with you, especially things that require special disposal, such as batteries.

Avoid purchasing souvenirs made from coral, turtles or other marine life—often this is illegal, and it’s never environmentally wise.

Being a coral friendly snorkeler not only helps to protect coral reefs directly, it also helps to raise awareness for coral reefs.

Be sure to find out local laws and regulations as they may differ from these general guidelines.

These guidelines were developed by the Coral Reef Alliance and are co-endorsed by the Project AWARE Foundation. (C) CORAL. These guidelines may be reproduced and distributed freely so long as they are reproduced in their entirety and the CORAL copyright is included. Suggestions for improving these guidelines should be sent to info@coral.org.

The Coral Reef Alliance is a non profit organization founded in 1994 to galvanize the dive community for conservation. CORAL has grown from a small, grassroots alliance into the only international nonprofit organization that works exclusively to unite communities to protect our planet’s coral reefs. They provide tools, education, and inspiration to residents of coral reef destinations to support local projects that benefit both reefs and people. They currently work in Hawaii, Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Fiji, and Indonesia. They also have an excellent on-line resource library for Best Practices and Guidelines in marine areas.